IP35520 - THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Module Identifier

IP35520

Module Title

THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Academic Year

2007/2008

Co-ordinator

Professor Len Scott

Semester

Intended for use in future years

Next year offered

N/A

Next semester offered

N/A

Course delivery

Lecture

(9 x 1 hour)

Seminars / Tutorials

(6 x 2 hour)

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Exam	2 Hours 2 hour exam	70%
Semester Assessment	2,000 word essay	30%
Semester Assessment	OR 1 x 3,000 word essay (50%) + 1 x 3,000 word essay (50%)	100%
Supplementary Exam	Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module the student should be able to:

evaluate debates about the origins, dynamics and conclusion of the crisis.

adjudicate upon how close the world came to nuclear war in 1962.

understand the implications of recent scholarship for the interpretations of historians, political

analyse the possible lessons of the crisis for the conduct of international affairs.

10 ECTS Credits

Brief description

In October 1962 Cold War came close to nuclear war. Ever since scholars, political leaders and military officials have pondered and debated how close we were to Armageddon. The causes, courses and consequences of the crisis continue to generate debate and disagreement among academics and surviving participants on all sides.

Content

Lectures:
1. Introduction : Origins of the Crisis
2. Dynamics of the Crisis
3. Resolution of the Crisis
4. Historiography and Revisionism
5. The Role of Nuclear Weapons
6. Soviet and Cuban perspectives
7. The roles of Kennedy and Khrushchev
8. Britain and the Missile Crisis
9. Lessons of the Crisis

Seminars:
1. Origins: Soviet
2. Origins: American
3. Dynamics and Resolution
4. The Role of Nuclear Weapons
5. Soviet Views
6. Lessons and Overview

Aims

The aim of the module is to explore the debates surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis, and examine how historians, political scientists and students of crisis management analyse the events of 1962. A second aim is to show how the study of the crisis illuminates various aspects of scholarship. What, for example, can recent historiography tell us about the opportunities and challenges for historical method, especially now that the Cold War is over? Third, the possible lessons of the crisis for diplomacy and crisis management are studied not just in the Cold War context, but in the age of weapons of mass destruction which we still inhabit.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6